THE Provincial Health Office (PHO) chief disagreed with a proposal to require public school students upon enrollment to have complete vaccines.
Vaccination is not required among incoming public schools students yet but the Department of Education (DepEd) is reviewing the Department of Health’s (DOH) proposal to make it mandatory.
The proposal to implement a “no vaccination, no enrollment” policy was raised after a drastic increase in the number of measles cases in the country. Records from the DOH showed there were 11,459 confirmed cases of measles with 189 fatalities from Jan. 1 to Feb. 20 this year.
Last Feb. 6, the DOH declared a measles outbreak in Metro Manila. Due to a spike in the number of cases, the measles outbreak declaration was expanded to Central Visayas, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Western Visayas the following day.
In Central Visayas, there were 316 recorded measles cases as of Feb. 19. Forty-eight of the cases were confirmed measles based on the patients’ laboratory exam results.
Cebu Province had the most number of measles cases with 222 cases.
In an interview Friday, Feb. 22, Cebu Province Schools Division Superintendent Rhea Mar Angtud said their central office is still studying the implications of the proposal.
“I won’t comment on the issue for now because we are still waiting for the central office to make a statement. Right now, vaccination is not mandatory.
PHO Chief Rene Catan, for his part, stressed that while vaccination is encouraged to prevent an outbreak, it is not mandatory.
“Getting an elementary education is a right, so is the right to health. This cannot be imposed. People should be given a choice. We must instead strengthen our vaccination program in the community rather than resort to iron-hand tactics,” Catan said.
Earlier, Catan said the country needs at least 95 percent of its people to be vaccinated to prevent a measles outbreak.
Records from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s official website show that the country’s population as of August 2015 is 100.98 million.
This means that to prevent a measles outbreak, around 95.93 million of the Philippine population need to be vaccinated.
The PHO had instructed 16 provincial and district hospitals to form teams that will conduct vaccination in the barangays.
Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, for her part, has no qualms about the proposed policy.
In a video posted on the Provincial Government’s official Facebook page dated Feb. 20, Davide urged parents to have their children vaccinated to protect them against measles.
“The measles vaccine has long been proven to be safe and effective, so we should not be worried or hesitate to have our children vaccinated. Our health centers are ready to help all of you,” he said. (RTF)